An active implantable medical device in which the means providing the therapeutic action is an electrode system (e.g.: a pacemaker or implantable defibrillator) can often be constructed in such a way that all the components with the exception of the means providing the therapeutic action are enclosed inside a single package, which is usually hermetically sealed. However, more complicated active implantable medical devices, or those in which the therapeutic action is mechanical in nature (such as the AbioCor™ fully implantable artificial heart by Abiomed, Danvers, Mass., USA), have in the past, been implanted in multiple components having separate hermetically sealed housings for each implanted component. Typically, the implanted components included a controller, at least one battery, and a therapeutic device. For purposes of this specification, a therapeutic device means a medical device that: actively treats a medical condition of a patient, and requires a power source to operate. Examples of therapeutic devices include, but are not limited to: pacemakers, left ventricle assist devices, cochlear implants, implanted hearing aids, and neural simulators.
As each implanted component generally includes a separate hermetic sealed housing, the implanted medical devices are often bulky and cumbersome. The increased surface area of multiple hermetical sealed housings may lead to increased risk of infection for patients implanted with such a device. Additionally, multiple implanted components add to the manufacturing cost, and may compromise the system reliability.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,269,266—Leysieffer and U.S. Pat. No. 6,736,770—Leysieffer et al describe similar implantable medical devices wherein a therapeutic device and at least one battery are packaged together in hermetically sealed housing and implanted within the body of a patient. However, the devices described within these disclosures are limited to including a therapeutic device with a battery and do not include a controller or device controller within the said hermetically sealed housing. Thereby the devices may require a separate implanted controller with additional housing or the controller may be required to be carried externally relative to the patient.
The present invention aims to or at least address or ameliorate one or more of the disadvantages associated with the above mentioned prior art.